The job “clerk of Superior Court” sounds like a secretarial position, but it is an important office whose occupant makes the court system run, oversees small-claims court, collects child support payments and judgments and helps families settle estate matters.This year, New Hanover County voters are fortunate to have two excellent candidates to replace longtime clerk Brenda Tucker, who is retiring.If only because she offers fresh ideas at a time when creativity will be needed to carry out the duties of the office, Democrat Lillian Salcines Bright gets a slight nod.The state is facing a huge budget shortfall, and coping with that while the office is called upon to handle an increasing workload will take someone who isn’t afraid to make big changes where necessary, to advocate for what absolutely can’t be cut and to consider more efficient ways to do the same job. Salcines Bright, an assistant district attorney who uses the clerk’s office routinely, believes it could operate more efficiently. It also could do a better job working around logistical problems to make public records more easily accessible, and Salcines Bright says she will make sure each employee understands the law in that area.It may seem unusual that an assistant district attorney is seeking this job, but the clerk’s job involves complex matters that require knowledge of the law. For example, the clerk acts as a judge in probate cases and presides over hearings on adoptions, mental competency and condemnation of property.That said, voters would not err by selecting her Republican opponent, Jan Kennedy. Her enthusiasm for her job is contagious and her competence goes almost without saying. She has uncanny knowledge of how the office operates, by virtue of 17 years’ experience there and is currently second in charge under Tucker. There is no question that she could keep the office running as smoothly as it has for the past two decades.The office would be in good hands with either woman in charge, but Salcines Bright has the perspective to consider what needs to change, and the intelligence not to tamper with what is working well.